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Search for A True Nigerian Theatre: The Impact of Eurocentrism in Nigerian Theatre

Emem Charles Bassey, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Abuja, Nigeria
ememm123@yahoo.com

Nigerian Literary dramatists have for the past few decades tried to evolve a Nigerian identity in the theatre but the start has been shaky due to the influence of Western Culture. Following after the tenets and rules of the western literary artists has not helped matters at all. Another great impediment to acquiring an identity for Nigerian artists was the effect of colonization. The missionaries that came tried all they could to abolish Nigerian art forms displayed through dances, masquerades, songs and poetry. The Nigerian child had no opportunity to be taught subjects like Literature in his own language. His idea of theatre was simply limited to the Medieval and Elizabethan Europe.
This paper wishes to point out the early Nigerian dramatists of the literary genre studied in America and Europe and therefore believe that the best model for plays should be the European classics of Euripides, Sophocles, and so on. Such dramatists discovered later that they are torn between two loyalties: that of their cultural background and their Western education. Some have tried to handle this by combining the two in their works. Some have adapted Western plays to reflect the fact that they are Nigerians like Ola Rotimi’s ‘The gods are not to blame’ adapted from Sophocles’ classic ‘Oedipus Rex’
In the light of this, this paper seeks to suggest a model for Nigerian Theatre. An authentic Nigerian theatre should ideally incorporate all elements of the Nigerian art forms. Nigerian plays that do not conform to the requirement is alien to our sensibilities and identity. The opposite of plays not tipped with dances, songs and music are modeled after the Euro-American literary tradition. Nigerian artists should seek to maintain their identity, that way their efforts will be seen to promote and preserve Nigeria’s culture since Literature is the aspect of culture that is written down.